Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

Under Geb's disdainful gaze, a dark spatial tunnel opened up in front of Hayato, revealing the figure of a monster. When they saw the monster's outline, Yugi and his companions couldn't help but widen their eyes.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh, don't blink, this is the last monster you'll ever see!" Using the card retrieved from his Duel Disk, Hayato slammed the monster onto the Disk. "Come forth!"

"【Earthbound God - Veracocha Raska】!"

Chapter 711 Flying-Type Elite Four Civil War

"This is a monster with an attack power of less than 400 points!?"

A giant bird-beast descended upon Hayato's field, but after Hayato whispered a few words to it, it shrank back to its normal size. However, Gab couldn't forget the shock he felt when the monster suddenly appeared before him, and said with some disbelief.

[Earthbound God - Veracocha Raska] [10☆/Dark]

[Bird/Beast Race/Effect]

[1/1]

"【Veracocha Laska】's rank isn't just for looks. Although her attack and defense are only 1 point each, she possesses extremely ferocious and powerful effects," Hayato said smugly, hands on his hips.

"Besides being unaffected by the effects of the opponent's Spell/Trap Cards, [Veracocha Rasca] cannot be targeted by the opponent's monsters, can attack the opponent directly, and can skip its own Battle Phase once per turn to reduce the opponent's Life Points to 1!"

"My predictive model shows your future is as bright as a toaster, hahahahahahahahahahahaha!"

After a pause, Hayato suddenly realized that he might have been laughing a little too arrogantly. He wasn't a villain but a hero, so he quickly straightened up and said, "However, as the name suggests, [Earthbound God] requires the presence of a Field Spell Card to maintain its effect. During the end phase of a turn when there is no Field Spell Card on the field, [Veracocha Raska] will destroy itself."

"But it doesn't matter, because I'm going to activate this card in the back row! Trap Card [Virtual World], this card can add a Field Spell Card from my deck to my hand or activate it directly, the card I've chosen is this one, [Mind's Eye Temple]!"

Although the greatest power of [Veracocha Raska] lies in its ability to reduce the opponent's life points to 1, Hayato cannot use this effect now that they are in the middle of a battle. At most, he can only use [Veracocha Raska] with 1 attack power to directly attack Gaib.

The mere 1 point of damage is practically nothing if you don't use the effect of [Veracocha Raska] to modify your base score first. To maximize the damage, Hayato chose to activate [Mind's Eye Temple].

The tomb-guarding clan, who were originally the guardians of the underground temple, raised a second temple underground. With the appearance of the Field Spell Card, the power of [Earthbound God - Veracocha Raska] was also activated, and the markings on its body lit up.

"Pink..."

Looking at the markings on [Veracocha Laska]'s body, Gab subconsciously said, but the next moment Hayato abruptly interrupted him, "That's magenta!"

Having corrected a rather significant color error, Hayato waved his hand and commanded, "Then my battle phase continues. [Earthbound God - Veracruz Laska] will bypass [Nephthys the Phoenix God] and attack the opposing duelist directly!"

"Brave bird, attack!"

The shrunken eagle ignored Nephthys the Phoenix God and attacked Gab directly.

"To attack me with a mere 1 point of attack power? This is infuriatingly greedy and pushover!" Gab hadn't taken the mere 1 point of damage seriously, even seeing it as a provocation from Hayato, and looked contemptuously at [Veracocha Laska] who was about to strike him. "An attack of this magnitude is simply—"

"Well!"

[Gab: 4000 → 3000 LP]

After finishing his attack, [Veracocha Laska] returned to Hayato's field. Looking at Gaib, who was in pain after being hit by [Earthbound God], Hayato pretended to be stupid and said, "While [Heaven of the Mind's Eye] is on the field, the value of combat damage taken by both sides will be 1000 points."

"Huh? Didn't I mention it beforehand? Because Mr. Gab, you have this expression on your face that looks like you've taken the attack without any preparation and are in excruciating pain."

The other party was, after all, Isis and Malik's father, and Hayato didn't have any deep-seated hatred for him, so he didn't make [Veracocha Laska] go all out; in fact, he only made a light attack.

However, [Veracocha Raska] is an extremely evil card, so it's normal that someone as pure and kind as Hayato can't completely control it. It's definitely not revenge for being scolded earlier.

"Tch, it doesn't hurt at all!" Although his previous calm expression crumbled and he revealed obvious discomfort, Gabu still stubbornly insisted.

"Is that so? That's good. Actually, my battle phase can only end here, Mr. Gab." Because [Co-op Battle] changed the attack power of [Sky Dragon Knight - Gaia], Hayato's original plan failed, and he could not do anything to [Nephthys Phoenix God] for the time being, so he could only end the offensive.

"I'll set one card face down, and my turn is over." With one card of unknown meaning remaining in his hand and another card placed in his back row, Hayato declared the end of his turn, "It's your turn, Mr. Gab."

[Hayato: 5600LP, 1 cards in hand]

【Little Roadrunner】【DEF300】

【Sky Dragon Knight - Gaia】【ATK1200→2600】

【Earthbound God - Veracocha Raska】【ATK1】

[Spiral Shot Kill] [Gaikka]

Location: [Temple of the Mind's Eye]

"Hmph, my turn." Hearing Hayato's urging, Gab glared at Hayato unhappily, drew a card from his deck, and a few golden wisps of mist dissipated from his body. "Draw!"

Hayato has three monsters gathered on his field. Excluding the "Roadrunner," which is currently unbeatable by Gab but poses no threat, defeating Hayato would inevitably require facing the monsters "Gaia" and "Earthbound God."

Having been freed from the one-turn effect of [Co-op Battle], [Sky Dragon Knight - Gaia] has returned to its original 2600 attack power. Although without the boost from [Spiral Fusion], Gaia's attack power is now far lower than other monsters like [Blue-Eyes], it still exceeds [Nephthys Phoenix God]'s value by 200 points.

Its ability to change the monster's battle position when declaring an attack, combined with its defense penetration effect, basically means that Gab is unlikely to be able to withstand its attacks with weak monsters; it can only be destroyed head-on.

And then there's that [Earthbound God]. Just looking at it evokes a natural sense of repulsion from the depths of one's heart. When combined with [Heaven of the Mind's Eye], even with only 1 point of attack power, it becomes exceptionally unfair because it can only be attacked unilaterally without being able to attack itself. Not to mention its resistance is also quite troublesome.

At the same time, Gab hadn't forgotten about the ability of [Veracocha Raska] to modify the opponent's Life Points that Hayato had mentioned. If nothing unexpected happens, Hayato will probably have to use that disgusting-sounding power next round.

Thinking of this, Gab glanced at the composed Hayato and snorted coldly: "At this moment, the effect of [Nephthys the Enlightened One], which was destroyed from my hand by [Nephthys the Guardian] in the previous turn, is activated in my graveyard. During my Standby Phase of the next turn if it was destroyed by an effect and sent to the graveyard, this card is Special Summoned from the graveyard."

Beside Nephthys the Phoenix Goddess, the monk who had appeared briefly earlier reappeared. Although her power was still too weak compared to the monsters on Hayato's field, at least Nephthys the Phoenix Goddess was no longer as alone as before.

【Nephthys the Enlightened One】【2☆/Wind】

[Mage Race/Effect]

[600/600]

Ultimately, Hayato's ability to achieve the current state of affairs is due to the "card advantage" he created in the previous turn using [Nightmare Mirage]. His abundant hand resources allowed him to freely use cards to create the current situation, resulting in such a luxurious and powerful monster lineup.

So, does Geb's deck contain a card that can instantly create a card advantage? The answer is definitely yes!

"While I must admit you did give me a tiny bit of a sense of crisis—just a tiny bit—that was your biggest mistake, because you made me take this completely seriously," Gab said smugly, holding the card he had drawn. "From now on, there's absolutely no chance you'll ever take the [Millennium Magic Book] from me when I'm completely serious!"

"I activate the Spell Card 'Heavenly Treasure Card'!"

A new card has appeared: "Even if you lose a lot of points, you can make it all back in one go - you deserve to be nerfed!"

“Based on the effect of this powerful card, I can draw six cards from my deck at once.” While drawing cards, Gab pointed smugly at Hayato, “while you, because you only have one card in your hand, can only draw five cards!”

It has to be said that Duel Monsters is truly amazing. Not only can it turn people like Yugi and Bakura, who are usually quite gentle, into hot-blooded and courageous individuals, but when Gab first appeared before Hayato and his group, his first impression was that of a rigid, silent, and expressionless person. Now, however, he is so smug because he drew just one more card.

Duels, aren't they amazing?

Hayato drew five cards from his deck and looked at the card he had left over from the previous turn in his hand. He muttered to himself with a hint of helplessness, "Sigh, it's all your fault. Otherwise, I could have drawn one more card."

“Besides [Nephthys the Enlightened One], I also have this monster’s effect in my graveyard that I can activate.” As he spoke, Geb took out a blue-bordered card from his Golden Duel Disk and showed it to me. It was none other than [Nephthys the Priest], which he had sent to the graveyard last turn using the effect of [Co-op Battle].

"【Nephthys Priestess】Can only be activated if it is in the Graveyard. Destroy one 【Nephthys】card in my hand and Special Summon it from my Graveyard."

"Then the card I destroyed in my hand was this monster, the second one, [Nephthys the Phoenix God]. When this monster is destroyed by a card effect and sent to the Graveyard, I Special Summon this monster from the Graveyard during my next Standby Phase!"

From Geb's grave, the [Priestess of Nephthys], dressed in a blue priest's robe, appears, at the cost of one of Geb's [Phoenix Gods of Nephthys] being sent to the grave.

While it may seem odd on the surface that a priestess appears at the cost of her "god" being sent to the grave, it's not unacceptable for Nephthys, who is constantly caught in the cycle of life and death. Furthermore, unlike the uniform golden armor worn by other Nephthys monsters, the Priestess of Nephthys wears blue clothing, seemingly hinting at something.

"It reappears on the field the next turn after being destroyed by an effect? ​​What a powerful effect!" Jonouchi exclaimed from the sidelines, while Pegasus frantically jotted down something in his notebook.

Hearing what Jonouchi said, Malik added, "Not only that, but if [Nephthys the Phoenix God] is Special Summoned by its own effect, it also has the ability to destroy all Spell & Trap Cards on both sides' fields."

"It is because of this effect that the [Nephthys] deck is worthy of being called a deck with the power of destruction and rebirth, and my father also ascended to the position of patriarch of the Gravekeeper clan because of this."

“However, in my memory, my father’s deck shouldn’t have had any Ritual Monsters.” Looking at the [Priestess of Nephthys] on Geppetto’s field, a possibility popped into Malik’s mind, “Could it be…”

"Watch closely, what follows is the new power I have gained upon returning to the world through the power of the [Millennium Magic Book], the power hidden beneath the [Nephthys] golden armor will now erupt and shine with the light of my soul!"

With that, Geb played a spell card from his hand: "I activate the Ritual Spell Card [Nephthys's Reincarnation]!"

"I will sacrifice two monsters as ritual offerings: the Level 6 Phoenix in my hand and the Level 2 Nephthys Priestess on the field. My total Level is now 8! Nephthys, reveal your magnificent inner self!"

"Ritual Summon this monster from my hand!"

The blue-robed priest knelt devoutly before the golden divine bird, infusing its body with his own blue flames. The next moment, the seams of the golden armor covering Nephthys's entire body cracked, and beams of blue light burst forth and expanded, as if trying to tear apart the shell that bound her!

The azure flames suddenly spread across almost the entire area of ​​Geb, engulfing the monsters in flames. But in the next moment, the burning blue flames surged and converged towards the sky, reforming once again into a bird with a similar outline but a drastically different appearance!

"Roar! Undying souls, awaken the destructive fires of reincarnation, purify all with holy flames!"

"Ritual Summoning! [Nephthys, the Azure Phoenix Goddess]!"

【Nephthys, the Azure Phoenix God】【8☆/Flame】

[Bird and Beast Race/Ritual/Effect]

[3000/1000]

"Attack power, 3000 points! That's on par with the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon! So strong, too strong!" Hayato said in a ridiculously fake tone. "So I must immediately activate this powerful face-down card on my back row, the Continuous Trap Card Chain of Demons!"

"Take my leash, you bastard!"

As Hayato opened his back row card, countless silver chains filled with magical energy wrapped around the newly appeared [Nephthys the Azure Phoenix God]. But before they could get close, [Nephthys the Azure Phoenix God] suddenly unleashed a burst of fire, instantly clearing away the chains.

"Hmph, trying to use such underhanded tactics to restrict my monster? But it's useless! When [Nephthys's Reincarnation] is used to Ritual Summon [Nephthys's Priest] or [Nephthys's Azure Phoenix], I can choose another card on the field to destroy. Your Trap Card will be destroyed before it even touches my monster!"

"If you dare touch my... monster again, I will absolutely not forgive you!"

Hayato and Geb each controlled their own monsters, creating a tense atmosphere. Honda, watching from the sidelines, glanced at Hayato's [Earthbound God - Veracruz Laska] and then at Geb's [Nephthys the Azure Phoenix God], and couldn't help but remark, "Did I wander onto the set of Pokémon? Is this some kind of Flying-type Elite Four internal battle?"

Chapter 712 Kono Hayato!

【Nephthys the Azure Phoenix God】, the ritual form evolved from 【Nephthys the Phoenix God】, not only changes in appearance but also allocates 600 points of defense to attack power, making its specialization even more severe.

If it were Hayato's turn, [Sky Dragon Knight - Gaia] would use the ability to freely choose the monster's battle position when declaring an attack to tell Gab that being biased is not good. However, this is Gab's main phase, and the power of [Nephthys the Azure Phoenix God] is just about to be revealed.

"Activate the effect of [Nephthys the Enlightened One]: Target one 4-star or lower [Nephthys] monster in my Graveyard other than [Nephthys the Enlightened One], destroy one card in my hand, then negate the effect of the targeted monster and Special Summon it to the field in Defense Position."

Geb sends a card from his hand to the graveyard, saying, "Repentance will pave a path of light through the dark wilderness, destroying [Nephthys' Prayer] in my hand and Special Summoning [Nephthys' Priest] again!"

[The Priestess of Nephthys] [DEF1200]

The priestess in blue returned to the field. Since she had no effect to activate, it didn't matter whether her effect was negated or not. She was in defense position on the Gadget field.

Trading a hand full of cards for a useless monster? No, Geb's real plan is to play the last two cards in his hand!

"I will activate the [Nephthys's Cycle] for the second time, and once again release the [Nephthys's Priest] as a ritual sacrifice, bringing the total level to 2 stars. Let us continue the cycle of life and death, and connect everything to the path of hope!"

"Ritual Summoning! [Nephthys's Link]!"

The [Nephthys Prayer], which was destroyed from the hand by Gab to bring back [Nephthys Priest], reappears on the field. [Nephthys Enlightened One] puts a golden helmet on it, and after receiving the inheritance of [Nephthys Priest], it transforms into [Nephthys Connector] in a magnificent way!

【Nephthys's Linker】【2☆/Wind】

[Mage Race/Ritual/Effect]

[2000/0]